


Drabble Week FYDL

by thestanceyg



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 23:42:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11977590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestanceyg/pseuds/thestanceyg
Summary: My drabbles from FYDL's drabble week prompts. All prompts are Darcy/Spencer or Darcy/Unknown (implied Spencer).





	1. 62%

Darcy and Spencer stared at each other. “I thought we had booked a room with two beds,” she said hesitantly, looking over at the other professor.

“We did,” he said, a crease forming between his brows.

“You would know,” she mumbled, dropping her bag on a chair.

“I would,” he agreed, dropping his own bag on the other chair and moving back toward the door. “And I’m going to fix this.”

“How?”

“I know what we booked. I’ll go talk to the desk and get us a different room.”

“And you’re leaving your bag and me here because…?”

His mouth screwed up in distaste, a look Darcy was horrified to realize she found oddly adorable. “Because we might be stuck,” he finally said. “This is a conference affiliate hotel and I know the conference site said it was fully booked. That doesn’t mean it is, it just means we might be stuck.”

Darcy nodded and he opened the door and headed down to the desk. While he was gone,Darcy inspected the room. There wasn’t much to it. A bathroom with a decently clean shower and a generous number of towels, two arm chairs, a desk with a coffee pot, a dresser with the tv, two nightstands, and just one bed. There wasn’t even another viable option besides the floor, and even that was questionable since the room was fairly cozy. It was nice, recently remodeled even, but definitely only one bed. At least it was queen sized?  _ Just enough room that sharing won’t seem totally inappropriate to suggest _ , her mind helpfully supplied.

Look, it wasn’t like it was a secret or anything. Pretty much all of her department knew that she had a ridiculous crush on the theoretical engineering professor. When their mutual friend, Penelope, from Computing and Informatics mentioned they both were doing research that was related, she never expected she’d actually work with (long term!) the adorably rumpled genius. And she’d certainly never expected that they’d be hitting up conferences together, presenting their research.

But here they were.

With just one bed.

Darcy sighed and flopped herself into the nearest chair.

“No luck,” Spencer said as he came back into the room. He looked around the small space, eyes finally landing on the bed. “Err...how awkward would it be…,” he trailed off, the tips of his ears turning pink.

“To share? Yeah, that was my conclusion too. Not too bad. It’s just one night.” She shrugged and tried to play it off as if this was nothing while her stomach flipped at the thought.

“Yeah,” he agreed, eyes still on the bed, “just one night.”

The next morning, Darcy was alarmed to realize that she had rolled into Spencer and was curled into his side, his arm slung around her waist. She wanted desperately to both stay there and immediately move away before he could wake up and realize what had happened. His arm pulled her closer and then suddenly pulled away. Apparently getting out of this before he woke up was no longer an option. She forced her eyes open and looked at him. “Good morning Dr. Reid.”

“Dr. Lewis,” he said, his face blushing instantly. She tried to scoot away from him, but the blanket pulled with her so she stopped.

“Err, sorry? I can’t help what happens when I sleep?”

He stared at her for a long moment and then shook himself. “62%”

“Huh?”

“That’s the amount of space left in the bed; the space not taken up by us,” he said in a hurry.

“Oh.”

“Sorry, it’s just..something to keep my brain occupied while I was embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed? I’m the one who practically closed the continental divide in an effort to stick myself to your side.” And she was. They were on his side of the bed.

“Uhm, I’m maybe embarrassed because I really didn’t mind.”

She stared at him for a long moment before her phone alarm began going off. She practically shot over to her side of the bed to shut it off. “I need to shower,” she said, pointing the phone at him like it was a finger, "but don’t you dare think this conversation is over.” He looked at her wide eyed. “Not like that,” she said, crumpling a bit. “Just, more like you don’t need to be embarrassed if we both felt like that.” She flew into the bathroom before she had a chance to look at him. She turned on the shower and busied herself with checking the texts that had come in sometime in the night, all from Penelope.

**So how did your shared experience go?**

**I hope you don’t mind that I upgraded you two to a single bed.**

**You can thank me when you get back!**

**(I know the rest of the faculty will because holy smokes, the UST.)**


	2. Dreamer

His mind wandered. Vaguely he was aware that this was his mind coping with the torture, but he found he didn’t care. It was nice, this dream he was inhabiting. He felt his body tremble, but ignored it. If he focused hard enough, he might be able to finally see her face. They had been...playing house was the best term he could think of. He felt a tickle in the back of his brain that he shouldn’t be satisfied with this settling on a word, but he needed to see her face and stop worrying about words. 

It was his apartment but not. There was art on the walls that wasn’t his; books on his shelf he didn’t own. The sheets on the bed were different, and there were more pots and pans in the kitchen than he had ever used. 

And there was her.

This woman who turned her face everytime he came close to seeing it. She was everywhere. She was cooking dinner and laughing at a pun he made; sitting in a chair curled up with a mug and a book; sleeping in his bed with her hair wild on the pillow. His hands on her face; neck; skimming her sides-soft and solid beneath his fingers.

He felt a blade slice his skin, pulling his focus before it shot back to-

Lips on hers; a warmth of her breath as their noses bumped. He could feel her smile against him before pressing back into him now more playful in the way she explored his mouth.

But still not her face. He felt like he was chasing it.

His breath whooshed out quickly after a blow to his abdomen, and just as everything faded away, she turned to face him.

*** 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Garcia asked for the third time in ten minutes.

“I promise you, I’m fine,” he said again. He’d be angry, but he knows she sees what he can’t seem to hide. In crowds he’s always scanning, looking for a face he only remembers in fragments. The dream woman that helped him survive. They’re in New York on a case, and he’s in a small apartment with Garcia working on victimology. She’s working on breaking a heavily encrypted laptop while he studies the bookshelf.

“Uhm,” a voice calls from the living room, “Mrs. DeWitt?”

He heads out there to take care of the nosy neighbor but instead finds himself staring at the face he’s been searching for. He stares at her for a long second before promptly fainting.

*** 

“Is anyone there?” Darcy called into the apartment. “A little help?” She kneeled next to the man crumpled on the floor and checked his ABCs. Air, breathing, and circulation all appeared to be good. Maybe he just had low blood sugar.

“Yeah? Oh!” a woman said, emerging from Mrs. DeWitt’s bedroom. “What happened?” She joined Darcy on the floor, checking the man out. Darcy watched her hands flutter over him and was struck by how attractive he was.

“I don’t know. He just looked at me and passed out,” she said unhelpfully. “Who are you guys?” she added, wondering where her neighbor was and what was going on.

“We’re from the FBI. I’m Penelope.”

“FBI? Did something happen?  Is Mrs. DeWitt okay?”

Penelope pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, but she was killed.”

“Oh my god,” Darcy breathed. “Why would someone murder a 92 year old woman?”

“Mrs. DeWitt wasn’t 92…” Penelope said, looking at her.

“Then who the hell have I been bringing cookies to every week for 3 months?”

“Good question,” Penelope said just as the man on the ground started to come to. “Easy Spence,” she said, placing her hands on his chest to keep him from sitting up.

His eyes blink open and he groaned a bit when he tried to turn his head.”What happened?”

“You passed out when you saw me,” Darcy supplied, positioning herself in his line of sight. “Do you have low blood sugar? I have cookies.”

“You,” he said, staring at her again.

“Her?” Penelope asked, now also staring at her.

“Me? What about me?”

His eyes ran over her and she couldn’t help but shiver a bit under the naked desire reflected in his stare.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”


	3. Slow Down

_ “Where does this go?” her husband asked, holding up the immersion blender he had just dried. _

_ Darcy lightly smacked him on the arm. “You know exactly where it goes,” she teased. _

_ “Honest, I don’t,” he smiled, handing it to her. “Show me?” _

_ She laughed and snatched it from him, bending over to put it into the lower cabinet with the pull out drawer where they had kept it for the last two years. She bent at the waist and wiggled her hips while she put it away. “Is this what you wanted? Getting to see what you were hoping to see?” _

_ “Of course. Now I know where to put it next time.” _

_ “Oh I’ll tell you where to put it,” she jokingly mumbled as she stood up. _

_ “Oh?” he asked, arms snaking around her waist. “Where can I put it?” She smiled against his lips before kissing him. “That’s not an answer,” he said when she started to pull away, his arms tightening to keep her in place. _

_ “You’re too much.” _

_ “Does that mean you can’t handle where I should put it?” _

“Darcy!”

Jane’s voice cut into the nice little daydream she was having.

“Yeah?” she asked, startled.

“You were doing it again.”

“Doing what?” she asked unconvincingly.

“That thing where you disappear into your head and pretend you’re married to some poor guy.”

“He’s not ‘some poor guy’ if he’s married to me.”

“You need to stop jumping to the end. Slow down, start at the beginning.  _ Just ask him out _ .”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly who I’m talking about,” Jane said, turning to look at the man across the shop. “But if you’re not going to do anything about it…” She trailed off as she stood up and started walking toward him.

“Jane? Jane! I don’t like that look in your eye Jane!” Darcy said taking off after her. “Holy smokes woman,” she said quickening her pace, “now who needs to slow down?”

Jane stopped in front of him and waited for him to look up. “Hi,” she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, “this is my friend Darcy and she thinks you’re cute. Please talk to her for the next five minutes. You don’t have to go out or anything, but at least then maybe she’ll be able to focus beyond daydreaming about you when we go back to work.” Her eyes darted a warming to Darcy with the last part. Then she was pushing Darcy into a chair. “Have fun. I’ll be over there with a timer,” she said, waving her hand back at their table. “She can come back when it goes off.” And with that she walked away.

Darcy wasn’t sure her face could be any redder. “Err, hi?”

A small smile crossed her new coffee companion’s lips. “Hi,” he said. His voice was very close to what she imagined.

This was probably about to be both the longest and shortest 5 minutes of her life.


	4. Separation

Spencer pulled his phone from his pocket.

**You’ve been gone forever.**

He smiled and responded.  **It’s been two days.**

**FOREVER** was the immediate reply.

“Reid?” Morgan asked.

“Huh? Yes?”

“I said, you wanna come with me to check out the house?”

“Of course,” he said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. It immediately vibrated in protest, and his fingers itched to check the message.

“What’s going on with you?”

He started moving them toward the car. “What are you talking about?”

“Answering my question with a question. Sounds like you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I would never pretend to understand your mind.”

Derek laughed and shook his head as he opened the driver side door. “Kid, that’s basically our job.”

“Yeah, well it’s rude to do it to your coworkers.”

“So you  _ are _ hiding something.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t need to if I didn’t work with a bunch of busybodies.”

“Okay, okay,” Morgan capitulated. “I was just interested in you. You’ve been happier this last month than you have been in a while, so excuse me for being interested in what, or should I say  _ who _ , has caused this change.”

“Why do you think it’s a who?”

“What’s don’t send you texts.”

“Maybe it’s a computer program that sends me videos of my favorite tree at the park.”

“That’s not a thing Reid.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Look, you don’t have to tell me-”

“-that’s right I don’t-”

“-I just wanted to say I hope whatever it is, that it keeps working. It’s nice to see you smile.”

*** 

“Why isn’t he answering?” Darcy mumbled at her phone. It was getting hard to concentrate on the data entry she was supposed to be doing when she was stressing about the text she had sent that maybe went a touch further than it should have. She knew he was away on work, and there was no reason to expect a response, but his silence was deafening. It was filling up the space around her and taking all the air.

“Okay, time to spill,” Clint said, dropping onto the side of her desk as she screamed and hit him.

“Don’t  _ do _ that!” Clint simply looked at her patiently. “Ugh, okay,  _ what _ exactly do you want me to spill?”

Clint picked up her phone between two fingers. She immediately snatched it back. “Explain what’s up with the phone and why you’re freaking out about it.”

“I’m not freaking.” He raised an eyebrow at her in a way he must have learned from Natasha. “I’m not freaking,” she repeated. “I’m just impatient.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” He pulled a bag of swedish fish from somewhere in his vest. “So who is he?”

She blushed a hot red. “Just this guy I met.”

“Met where?” he asked around a mouthful of candy.

“...err...on….line?” Clint stopped smirking and looked at her. “It’s not like, weird or anything,” she rushed to add. “We’re just in an online class together and hit it off.”

“So you’re study buddies?”

“Well….I mean...yeah?”

“But maybe more?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She blushed again. “That’s the hope?”

“Then why the mini-freak out?”

“Well...see...I maybe sent this text…”

*** 

It was two hours and 47 minutes before Spencer was able to take his phone out to see the messages Darcy had sent. He was surprised to see one was a photo. In it, she was holding a coffee mug close to her face. It covered her mouth, but it was clear she was smiling. The mug said “She wants the PhD.” he quickly saved the picture and considered his reply. They might not have met in person, but he was hoping that crafting the right response might change that.

**Me? Or were you speaking about your own degree?**

Five minutes later she responded.

**Why not both?**


	5. Challenged

“No.”

“Darcy, you don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Yes I do,” Dacy sighed as she slid Jane’s coffee to her.

“Fine. What was I going to say?”

“You were going to tell me to talk to him.”

Jane picked up her coffee and tipped it toward Darcy, “You’re wrong.”

Darcy sipped her white chocolate mocha and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Surprise me.”

“Well according to you, I can’t, so I’m not even going to try.”

“Oh, c’mon Jane. That’s not what I said.”

“Nope. I’m just so predictable that you already knew what random thing was going to come out of my mouth, so no. Besides, I’m not sure you’re up to it anyway.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I’ve just been...ugh, this is so hard. Fine. I’ve been sort of...sad since Thor’s been gone, okay? It’s not a big deal or anything. Let’s just forget about it.”

“Jane,” Darcy said plaintively. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“Just forget about it.”

“No, really. What did you want?”

“It’s kind of silly.”

“It’s not silly if it will make you feel better.”

“I just don’t think you’ll want to.”

“I promise I will. Whatever you want.”

“You promise?”

“Yes Jane, I promise.”

“Pinky swear?” Darcy rolled her eyes but held out her pinky. Jane linked hers with Darcy’s and they shook. “In that case, I’d love it if you’d go over to that table and ask the cute guy on a date.”

“Jane!” Darcy groaned. “Absolutely not.” Jane just smirked at her. “I can’t believe you would manipulate my feelings like that!”

“I mean, it wasn’t a total lie. It does suck that Thor’s not around. But my exaggeration isn’t going to get you off the hook. You pinky promised.”

“You can’t hold me to that!”

“I can and will because you don’t want to deal with the consequences if you don’t.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Depends on how you feel about Tony learning about your crush.”

Darcy pursed her lips. “You’re on.”

*** 

“Spill.”

“Huh?” Spencer asked, looking down at the table.

“Not your coffee,” Prentiss said. “Your guts. You’ve dragged me here three days in a row for a reason.”

“They just have really good coffee.”

“So it has nothing to do with the brunette over there that you keep looking at.”

“Who?”

“Nice try.” Emily turned her head to get a better look at the woman and her friend.

“Stop being so obvious.”

She turned back to him. “She’s gorgeous, and the woman she’s with looks somewhat familiar.”

“That’s Dr. Jane Foster. She’s the foremost authority on the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Darcy Lewis has been her assistant for the past 6 years.”

“Stalker much?”

“I can’t help what I already know. It was all in that Shield data dump 3 years ago.”

“So why are you afraid to talk to her?”

“I wouldn’t say afraid…”

“Oh?”

“More like terrified.” Prentiss snorted. “She’s learned enough astrophysics to be Dr. Foster’s Girl Friday. She’s credited on every paper, and has authored several of her own on the socio-political implications of human-alien interaction.”

Prentiss hummed and thought for a moment. “Think of it like chess. Your opening move sets the tone for the game.”

“I don’t want to play a game with her. I want to date her.”

“Ah! I knew it!” Spencer shook his head in annoyance at falling for Emily’s ruse. 

“So what? She’s amazing and I can’t get up the nerve to talk to her. Okay?”

“You better figure it out, because here she comes.” Prentiss got up to give them a bit of privacy. “Game on lover boy.”


	6. Boundaries

Darcy had all but given up on bringing guys home. For some reason the entire team (which she had mistakenly offered baked goods and they took to mean “we’re family now”), never thought anyone she dated was good enough. Not like it was easy to meet someone when you work on a restricted floor and kept ridiculous hours, but occasionally she managed. And then, sometime around month three she would invite the poor guy over to watch a movie and something would happen. One time it was Natasha sitting at the kitchen table sharpening knives, another it was Clint popping out of the ceiling. But Tony, Tony was the worst. One time the cute guy from IT had brought her some coffee, and Tony had laid into him like it was Jeopardy and she was the prize. Spoiler alert: not only did he not pass Tony’s test, his anger at the whole thing was a big turn off, so Darcy called it quits.

“Look, we’re doing you a favor,” Tony said as Darcy complained about boundaries and tossed the coffee out. (He hadn’t even brought her the drink she liked. That should have been clue enough.) She didn’t respond. Instead she arched an eyebrow at him. “Really, we are. Michael there? He has a Twitter account where he talked about how he had finally found an in to the restricted floors and how he was going to get all the good gossip about us.”

“Then why didn’t you just show me that?” she whined. She was so over everyone taking her choices from her.

“Because he wouldn’t have been humiliated. He was using you,” Tony said very seriously, “and that couldn’t stand. You would have just broken up with him and he would have felt like he was still smart. He needed to know he wasn’t.”

“Fine,” Darcy said, grabbing her bag. “I’m taking the rest of the day off.” (It’s not that she was upset about the break up, just crushed by reality.)

Tony nodded and watched her go.

“You think she’s going to be okay?” Jane asked, concern etched on her face.

“She’ll be fine. She always bounces back.”

“You know, Michael might have sucked, but Toby didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, wiping his hand over his face. “He didn’t suck, but he wasn’t good enough either.”

Jane examined Tony. “You’re awfully invested for a boss.”

Tony shrugged. “I’m a genius, I need a lot to keep my mind occupied.”

*** 

_ This is why they scared everyone else away _ Darcy told herself.  _ They had to so I could meet him. _ Spencer was everything the others had not been. He remembered all her favorite things, was never weird about her work, and he didn’t seem to care at all about her connection to the Avengers. But he wasn’t perfect. For one, he lived in DC and not New York, and for two, for as well as he remembered everything she liked, he was a bit clueless about things that she was more subtle about. But it didn’t matter because Darcy loved it, and him.

Which meant it was time to finally introduce him to the team.

“Jane, I’d like you to meet Spencer. Spencer, this is my boss, Dr. Foster.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said with a wide smile, not offering his hand (which was just as well because Jane was elbow deep in machinery).

“You too,” Jane said with a nod. “So how long have you two known each other?”

Darcy was so darn proud of herself. She had finally learned. She had kept this one secret so she had time to get to know him before anyone else butted in and tried to tell her how she should feel. “Six months,” she said, smirking when she heard a clang that meant Jane had dropped something.

“Oh wow,” Jane said lamely. “So what do you do, Spencer?”

“I work for the FBI,” he said, examining the lab. “I like your setup. Did you make your machines yourself?”

_ Bingo _ Darcy thought. Jane couldn’t hate him now.

As Jane extracted herself from the guts of her latest creation and explained to Spencer her process, Darcy watched them. This was good. Hurdle one cleared.Though, Jane was the ease-in. The next one…

“Who are you and why are you in my lab?” Tony said, strolling in.

“Speak of the devil,” Darcy muttered to herself before turning to face the man in question. “Tony! Meet Dr. Spencer Reid. Spence, this is Tony Stark.”

“Doctor, huh?” Tony said, sizing him up. “Of what?”

“Chemistry, engineering, and math.” A moment of shock registered on Tony’s face and Darcy mentally gave herself another point.

“Impressive, but you didn’t beat my record.”

“My mom wanted me to have a somewhat normal life. Oh, and I didn’t have money to just throw around to make sure I had access to my education.”

“What have you done with your degrees? I’ve never heard of you.”

“I’m the youngest profiler ever for the FBI.”

“A bean pole like you? A fed?”

“A man as short as you? A super hero?”

“Jarvis!” Tony snapped. “Get me any papers authored by the illustrious Dr. Reid.”

“I have 78 results, sir.”

Tony scowled and Darcy smirked. “Are you done interrogating my boyfriend?” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said boyfriend? How long have you known each other?”

“6 months,” Jane chimed in, watching carefully.

“Known each other 6 months or dating 6 months?”

“Dating,” Spencer said with a smile aimed at Darcy.

“Why was I not informed?” Tony whined.

“Because you always act like this,” Darcy said.

“Because they’re never good enough!”

“Don’t you think that should be up to Darcy to decide?” Spencer asked. “You know, I thought you would be fun to talk to because of our similar lives and interests, but you kind of suck.”

Tony grabbed his chest. “Because I care about my….employees?”

“Because you don’t care enough to let them be their own people.”

Darcy grabbed Spencer’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go make some coffee and pick a movie to watch,” she said, pulling him out of the room.

Once they were gone, Jane turned to Tony. “When are you going to tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“That she’s your daughter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tony said, practically fleeing the room.

“It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on,” Jane called after him.


	7. Summer Haze

The desert was no joke in the summer. Even in the high desert, the midday sun created a haze that hovered on the horizon and distorted everything. Normally she and Jane wouldn’t be up to see it. They would be sleeping, preparing for a night of data and observations. Jane probably was, but Darcy had been too nice, and now she was stuck here.

All she had wanted to do was run to the store to get things to make Jane pancakes. It had been a frustrating past few nights, and she wanted to cheer her up. She might not totally understand what they were studying, but she could tell it was important, and she desperately wanted Jane to get what she needed to prove everyone wrong. But Jane needed a pick-me-up, and where Darcy might lack in science knowledge, she made up for it in people knowledge, which is why she was an excellent assistant.

But trying to be a good person had ended with her tied up in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the day. The man had blitzed her, and she had come to in a van, tied with a sock in her mouth, taped in place. He had pulled her out into the hot sun and drawn on her with a knife, slicing deep enough to hurt and draw blood. She screamed and writhed, but he enjoyed it. Her mind drifted as the pain became stronger.

She should’ve known better. The local sheriff had come around and told them about the murderer the town over and reminded them to stay vigilant, but she had brushed it off because they always went places together. Stupid, stupid girl. And now she was going to die in the desert because she had brushed it off.

The man was gone. 

She had no idea how long she had been out, but the sun was still blazing high so probably not too long. She blinked her eyes and rolled to her side. The van was gone. She was alone. She struggled to get herself into a sitting position. Her ankles and wrists were duct taped, and everything stung as sand ground into her cuts, but she had to try something. If she stayed put she was dead for sure. She thought back to the self defense class she had taken, and a detail about restraints floated to her mind. 

_ “Duct tape is actually pretty easy to break out of if you know what to do,” the instructor said. “Raise your arms as high as you can, then pull them down against your hips, one on each side, and the tape will rip. It will sting, but it will also break.” _

She wasn’t sure she could get up, but she was fairly certain she could follow the directions from a sitting position. She pulled in a deep breath through her nose and moved before she could over think it.

The sound of the tape breaking was quieter than she expected, but it did break. She didn’t even attempt to pull the remains off her skin, instead, she quickly started tearing at the tape on her mouth, nearly screaming as it ripped the fine hairs of her face. She spat the sock out and let herself heave deep lungfuls of sandy air, coughing and sputtering but feeling much better than she had. Her hands instantly went to her ankles, stubby fingernails prying at the tape until it too gave. She left the tape remnants, conscious of how much the tape over her mouth had hurt when she pulled it off. If she got out of the desert, she would use something to break down the tape glue. She stood up and shielded her eyes from the sun, looking for a clue as to where to go. It was faint, but there were tire tracks. Several of her cuts were still oozing, but she embraced it. If she could still feel pain she was still alive. 

She knew she had walked long enough for the sun to move in the sky, but was unsure how much time had passed. In the haze she thought she saw a person coming toward her.

“Help,” she croaked out. Her throat was dry and coated in sand. She saw a black blob she thought must be a car coming up behind the figure. The van had been blue, so this wasn’t the man, her mind helpfully reminded her. The man was getting closer now. She tried to speed up, but her legs wouldn’t work. She cursed as her legs gave out and she fell.

“Darcy!” she heard as the figure got close enough to come into focus.

“Spencer?” she wondered. Why was he here? She must be dead, she realized just as everything faded to black.

***  

“How did she know your name?” JJ asked as Darcy was loaded into the ambulance that had been just behind them. They had gotten lucky with the partial tread they had been able to follow once they had apprehended the man, but they had all prepared to find another body. Except for Spencer who seemed unshakable in his belief she would be okay. Now JJ was wondering if he had known more than he had let on.

“I was tutoring her. Online. In physics. We mostly just emailed, but occasionally we video chatted.”

“For how long?”

“Just a few months. Basically from the moment she got the internship with Dr. Foster.”

JJ nodded and watched the ambulance drive off. “You know, she’s going to be okay. The other victims died of exposure.”

“I know.”

“And telling her how you feel might help her recover.”

Spencer stared at her. “I, oh, uh, I don’t…”

JJ leveled a look at him. “Don’t try that with me. I heard the way she said your name before she passed out. I think you might be surprised if you talked to her.”

Spencer turned to look at the ambulance, but said nothing.


	8. Answers

“Why did we have to bring Little Miss Mouthy over here again?” Bucky asked, smiling around the mouth of his beer bottle.

“Because someone has to act as interpreter for you,” Darcy said with a touch of superiority in her voice.

“It’s not like we don’t speak English doll.”

“Yeah, but not everyone speaks old man, and neither of you really speak technology.”

“Hey! I text you! I send you memes!”

Steve laughed. “We were saddled with a babysitter. Deal with it Bucky.”

“But I don’t know why!” he whined.

“Because she’s the one in touch with Dr. Reid,” Steve said just as Darcy also answered.

“Because someone has to stay immune to your charms and tell you no.”

“Aww, doll, don’t be that way. You know you love me.”

“It’s quite the leap from tolerate to love. Are you sure you’re right in the mind?”

“Hey now, that guy you’re named after totally made the leap from tolerate to love with Elizabeth Bennet.”

Darcy gave him an appraising look. “Okay. Fair. Point Bucky.”

Bucky crowed in victory, but noticed that Steve wasn’t fully paying attention to their conversation. “Hey, what’s caught your eye?”

“I think the better question is who,” Darcy said, following Steve’s line of sight. There was a group of women talking animatedly to a man standing at their table.

“They’re setting him up, I think,” Steve said, not bothering to look back at his companions.

“Like with one of them?”

“No, I think they’re planning on bringing him down a peg. They’ve got this look Peggy used to get before one-upping a guy who was a little too big for his britches.” They all sat and watched as Steve was proven right when they all pulled out credentials to flash at the man who just looked at the dumbly before walking away. They burst out laughing just as the women did.

“I hope the team we’re working with tomorrow are that fun,” Darcy said as she went back to her drink.

“That would make dealing with a possible Hydra cult a lot easier,” Bucky said with a sigh before downing the last of his beer.

Darcy clinked her glass against his empty bottle, “Yuuuup.”

The next morning they arrived at Quantico five minutes before they were supposed to meet their team. “I told you to set an alarm,” Darcy grumbled.”But nooooo. ‘There’s no need D! We have an internal clock doll.’ Pshhh.”

Steve hung his head a little guiltily but kept the quick pace he had set toward the security checkpoint. He and Darcy quickly stepped through, but Bucky was having a problem.

“Of course I set it off,” he said as they pulled him to the side to wand over him. “My arm is made of metal. You can see it. You don’t need a wand to know what set it off,” he complained while the supervisors debated what to do about the weapon that was his prosthesis. “Look, I will absolutely file an ADA suit against you if you don’t just let me go. I’m here to meet with a team because of my specialized knowledge for Christ’s sake.”

Sensing things were about to get ugly, Darcy quickly intervened. “Excuse me, SSA Hotchner is waiting for us upstairs. I can understand your concern, but I think if you look very closely, you’ll see that you are currently detaining a national icon that would have already killed you if that was his intent.” She grabbed Bucky’s hand and started to pull him away. “Now if you don’t mind, we are already late and we are absolutely blaming you. Have a nice day.”

Bucky was still scowling at the security guards, but had calmed down. “Thanks,” he said once they were in the elevator. “I don’t know why it bothered me so much.”

“Because it’s dumb? Like the point of those little pull asides is to make an assessment from professional judgement. They should have looked at you and been like, ‘Oh, cool. Bucky Barnes. He’s on our list so we knew this was coming.’ And then they should have waved you through.”

“Yeah,” he said, “that pretty much sums it up.”

“Look on the bright side,” she said to both of them as the elevator opened back up. “The people we’re about to meet with actually want you here and are going to respect you more.” They nodded and followed Darcy into the BAU where a small group was clustered together at some desks. 

“Darcy Lewis?” a tall, reedy man asked.

“Shit,” Darcy muttered under her breath, causing the soldiers to look at her. “Of course he had to be hot,” she sighed before putting a smile on her face.”Yes, and this is Steve and Bucky,” she said louder while gesturing to the guys. Bucky snorted at her statement and Steve just looked amused until he looked at the rest of the group.

“Oh!” he puffed out. “We saw you last night.”

Darcy looked at Dr. Reid’s coworkers and realized Steve was right. And, if the soft blush on Steve’s face or the assessing look on Bucky’s were any indication, the whole lot of them were about to be in the same boat. This simple consult suddenly was a whole lot more interesting.


	9. Maybes

It has been a whim to post up his spare bedroom on the university grad student listserv. He imagined that he wouldn’t actually see the person all that much, they would pay a modest rent that would help him make a dent in his mortgage, and he wouldn’t have to bother Garcia to water his plants when they were in the field. Plus, a grad student would be busy, but also at least adequately serious about their work, so someone he figured he could get a good feel for during an interview.

Yet somehow he had ended up with Darcy. He says somehow, but he knows exactly how it happened. She had impeccable references, a serious work ethic, and was the only one that didn’t make him recoil at the thought of living with them. 

Also she was very pretty. But that wasn’t why he said yes. It was all that other stuff. The pretty was just a thing he had noticed.

But now he realized he was at a loss for what to do when the semester ended. Their original contract was just for 6 months (on her insistence), and there was just one month left in it. He knew they needed to talk, but he had been in the field non-stop for the past three weeks. And now he was home, and she had fallen asleep in her notes in what looked to be a position that would sting when she woke up.

He didn’t want her to leave.

Sure, they hadn’t done a whole lot of interacting. He was often in the field, and she was often studying somewhere or at a conference; but he had started to enjoy the little things that showed her presence in the apartment. Her shoe rack by the door, the tiny cactus living on the window sill, the faintly tropical smell after she showered. It was all part of what he thought about when he thought about home, and it was all going to end. He didn’t want it to end because sometimes late at night when he couldn’t fall asleep in the field, he’d think about her never leaving. He’d imagine a life that was more than just the tiny moments they shared now, and it would calm his mind enough that he could drift off.

So many imagined maybes.

Maybe she would stay.

Maybe they would get more time together.

Maybe he would be able to make her laugh.

Maybe she would scoot closer doing rare shared movie nights.

Maybe they could have a future.

Maybe.

But first, he needed to wake her up and talk about next month, because if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be any maybes, just not anymores.


	10. Dangerous Territory

The things she did to make the rent. Darcy sighed. She couldn’t believe she was sticking this out, but until she found something new, she was stuck in bridal hell. She carefully steamed the newest samples as quietly as she could. Lauryn, her boss, liked to turn on classical music very low, and if you spoke louder than the music she would find you and hurt you. Sometimes it was a cutting remark, like when she had told Darcy she would never find a guy if she didn’t deal with the extra weight on her hips and ass. At that point Darcy had lost ten pounds in the last month because she didn’t have enough money for food and rent. Sometimes it was physical, but always in a way that made you think she just didn’t know how strong she was or just what she was doing. Like the time she had grabbed Darcy’s arm and twisted. She was pretty sure it was fractured, but she didn’t have the money to go to a hospital. Besides, it still worked fine, it just hurt. And it hadn’t even really bruised. If it didn’t bruise and her arm worked, how bad could it be? 

_ (Pretty bad she thought. But hopefully not much longer. Soon she would find another job.  _

_ Soon.  _

_ Hopefully.  _

_ If she ever stopped thinking she would get out of here, she wasn’t sure what would happen.) _

Some days she would go to the coffee shop across the street. She couldn’t afford to buy anything, but it was nice to be somewhere with noise; that wasn’t covered in eggshells. But it was dangerous territory because it made her think that something nicer was possible. Occasionally the tall, cute barista would bring her something she hadn’t ordered, and when she would try to tell him, he’d smile a tiny, adorable smile that made her heart flutter and her hands accept the treat.

But today she wouldn’t be able to go there. Today more dresses than she had ever seen had arrived in the shop, and her only task was to make sure each one was perfectly wrinkle-free before the end of the day. There were at least 100 dresses. She wasn’t sure it was possible.

She heard the bell jingle on the front door and frowned. They didn’t have any appointments scheduled today. A new bride would make Lauryn happy, but it would also put Darcy behind on steaming. She turned off the steamer and walked to the front. Standing in the showroom was Cute Coffeeshop Boy. 

“Hi Darcy,” he said.

“How do you know my name?” She didn’t remember ever telling him it.

“It’s on your nametag,” he said with a shrug. “Is your boss in?”

“Uh, yeah. She’s in the back. I can go get her.”

“No, no. That won’t be necessary. But if you could just come over here and help me with this…” he trailed off as he turned to look at the tiara display case.

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, but she went over to the case. “So what may I help you with?”

He stepped half a step closer and his far hand flipped something open against his thigh. “My name is Spencer and I’m with the FBI. We’re here for your boss, but are concerned about your safety, and I’d feel better if you’d come outside with me.” Her eyes flicked down to the credentials and she nodded, suddenly shaking. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her out to the sidewalk where she noticed the black SUVs. When they were fully out of the shop and further down the sidewalk, he stopped and looked at her. “We’re going to need to question you to help build a case against her.”

“What did she do?”

“Besides hurt you?” He paused. “She was also stealing all her dresses. Every last one was stolen from elsewhere. Last night she picked up an entire shipment. She was sloppy because it was so much larger than her usual haul and we were finally able to get the proof we needed.”

“Did you give me food because you thought I would tell you about her?”

‘I gave you food because I’m bad at flirting and I thought you could use it. We’ve been going over her books and she’s paying you nothing. In the time we’ve been watching her store I’d estimate you’ve lost 15 pounds, and while you’re beautiful no matter what you weigh, I don’t really like that you seemed to be starving.”

“So you thought you would save me?”

“No, I thought I would do what I could to help. You don’t need saving, but everyone needs help sometimes.”

“Oh yeah? You need help?”

“I’m apparently doing this flirting thing all wrong, so I’d say yes.”

Darcy smiled. “Luckily for you, I’m really good at the whole interacting-with-the-cutie-you-have-your-eye-on thing.”


	11. Enthusiasm

“Ugh,” Darcy complained as she opened her mailbox. It had happened again. She had gotten all the mail for the entire building. It was getting ridiculous. She had called the post office to complain multiple times, but this was week three and nothing had changed. She had put up a sign near the boxes telling everyone to see her for their mail. Originally she had tried dropping the mail off at each door, but tracking down everyone was a nightmare. It worked a lot better when they came to her. She even had a temporary little basket hanging on her door handle where people could grab a pen and scrap paper to leave a time they could meet up if they stopped when she wasn’t home. While it was a hassle, it was also kind of cool to meet everyone in the building. She actually felt like the had kind of come together as a little building community. Or, at least she and the individuals had. She was pretty sure most of them would help her out in a pinch now that they knew each other. 

Or, that is, most of them did. She still hadn’t met Mr. Reid. Or was it Dr. Reid? The mail varied. But she hadn’t seen him the entire 3 weeks of the mail debacle. She actually had quite the stack of mail for him. And, she wasn’t reading his mail, not really, but there was a stack of postcards from his mom that were  _ adorable _ . To say she was enthusiastically awaiting “Spence” was an understatement.

Of course, she hadn’t imagined it would go quite like this. It was laundry night, so she was wearing her unicorn print shorty-shorts and an off the shoulder sweatshirt that read, “I wouldn’t mind sweating with you” that a friend had made her as a joke in college. While she washed pretty much everything she owned, she was making a pan of brownies because it was a brownies for dinner kind of day. She was in the middle of melting her butter, sugar, and cocoa together on the stove when there was a knock at her door.

“Are you here for mail?” She called over her shoulder.

“Yes?” came the muffled response.

“Come on in then!” she said, turning back to the stove. She heard the door open. “Sorry, this is a critical stage. I don’t want anything to burn, so I can’t step away from it.” She looked over her shoulder again and saw a man she had never seen before. He was tall and rumpled. He had a cardigan and a bag slung over his shoulder. There was something about him that made her want to take his hand and never let go. “You must be Spencer,” she said, licking her lips without realizing it. 

“How’d you know?”

“You’re the only one i haven’t met. Though I wasn’t really expecting, well, you, Dr. Reid.”

“PhDs,” he said with a nod.

“Yeah,” she said, pulling her mixture off the stove and setting it to the side to cool. “Let me just wash my hands and then I’ll grab your mail.”

“What’s going on with that?”

She sighed. “All of us have complained, but for the past 3 weeks the entire building’s mail has been coming to me. Everyone comes to see me a couple times a week to get theirs.”

He nodded to what she was saying. “And what are you making?”

“Brownies,” she said with a smile. “And once they’re in the oven, some coffee. There’s something about brownies and coffee together that’s amazing.”

“Oh, well I’ll just get my mail. I wouldn’t want to keep you from that.”

“Or,” she said, concentrating far too hard on washing her hands, “you could join me?”

“Yeah?”

She looked up at him. “If you wanted to, yeah.”

“I’ve never made brownies from scratch,” he said, shifting his weight awkwardly.

_Oh,_ she realized, _he’s just as nervous as I am._ “Luckily for you, I’m a pro, and I’d be happy to teach you.”

“Okay,” he said, sliding off his shoes and dropping them and his bag by the door. “But first, one thing?”

“Sure?”

“I’d like to know your name.”

“Oh! Darcy. Darcy Lewis. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”


	12. Gunshot

“Look, if you’re that worried about it, I know someone.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Garcia said, pushing her glasses up, “I know someone that could probably train you.”

“Outside the bureau?”

“Yup,” she said with a small smile. “It’ll be discreet.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a paper. "Be there at 8 AM tomorrow.”

“That’s not ominous at all,” he said, but he still took the paper from her.

“You can thank me later,” she said with a wink.

The next morning, Spencer found himself standing in front of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, debating with himself whether or not Garcia had set him up in some way. He eventually decided she didn’t hate him, so that was unlikely, and went pushed the door open. Immediately he realized it wasn’t an abandoned warehouse at all. It was a state-of-the-art range, and he could hear the sound of gunshots that hadn’t been audible from outside. The place must have been soundproofed. He walked toward the sound, where he found a woman putting her gun down on a table while her target moved down the line toward her. He waited until she was done rendering the weapon safe before he called out to her.

“Err, hello? Penelope Garcia sent me for shooting lessons?”

The woman turned around and he was struck by how pretty she was. She was wearing form fitting, but not tight, clothes that showed off her shape. Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun, soft curls spilling out at her nape. She had red lips that were curled into a smile.

“You must be Spencer,” she said, not offering him her hand, which he appreciated. “Penelope wasn’t sure if you would show up.”

“I wasn’t sure either when I was standing outside.”

“Yeahhh,” she said, drawing out the word, “the soundproofing is A+ and somehow they made it totally secure while still making it look like a rundown piece of shit on the outside. Which is nice, actually, when you’re hiding a secret firing range.”

“Why’s it a secret?”

Her eyes cut up to the rafters. “Because sometimes you need to have a destination to force yourself to train, but you also want privacy,” she said, finally looking back at him. “So, P said you’re kind of a mess with a gun. We can fix that.”

“I’m not bad,” he corrected, “I’m just not good enough.”

“Fair enough,” she said nodding. “Then let’s get started making you good enough.”

Several hours later he was clutching a target in his hand, the tight grouping staring back at him. “I can’t thank  you enough,” he said, still staring at the cluster. “I didn’t think it was possible for me to shoot this well.”

“You just needed proper instruction from someone who was working with you and not from a manual,” she shrugged.

“How can I repay you?” he asked, looking her in the eye.

“We could grab coffee sometime,” she said more casually than she felt.

“Yeah,”  he said with a half smile that she found adorable. “It’s a date.” He full on smiled and grabbed his bag. “I need to get going, but we’ll be in touch?”

“Absolutely. Gotta know how you did.”

He gave a little wave and she watched him leave.

Nearly silent feet dropped down next to her. “You’re fucked.”

She sighed and turned to Clint. “I totally am,” she agreed. “And now I totally owe Penelope thank you cookies.”


	13. More

“Darcy, I don’t think-”

“-Don’t even try to stop me Jane,” Darcy said, her mouth a thin line. “I can’t wait forever. This is ridiculous.”

“Don’t you think what you’re doing is a bit...extreme?”

“It’s completely justified! The book is three weeks overdue and my paper is due in 5 days. 5 days Jane!”

“But you’re hacking into a government system.”

“Pshhh,” Darcy scoffed. “It’s the library, not the Pentagon. Besides, all I want to know is who has this stupid book so I can track their stupid body down and get what I need to make the essay magic happen.”

“It’s still hacking and a huge invasion of privacy.”

“It’s 5 days to read a 1200 page book and write a 7,000 word essay that’s 40% of my grade.”

“When you put it that way,” Jane acquiesced, sitting down next to Darcy.

“Oh, so suddenly those details make a difference?”

“Duh,” Jane said with a shrug.

Darcy wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she got to work on her computer. While the library deleted records once the books were returned, as long as they were out, (and as long as there was an unpaid fine), the record stayed, so it wasn’t difficult to find what she was looking for.

“Jackpot,” she said with a smile. “Okay, Spencer Reid, time to learn everything I can about you so you can stop making my life miserable.”

Ten minutes later she was grabbing her bag and heading out the door. “Stop!” Jane called after her. “You can’t just walk into the FBI and expect them to let you in!”

Darcy waved off her concern. “Already taken care of. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered.”

“I don’t like that you’re not telling me what it is.”

“Plausible deniability Janey.”

Jane pondered this for a second. “Fair,” she decided. “Be safe!”

Darcy began the hour long trek to Quantico, checking the alerts she had set to make sure that none of her sneakiness had been detected. When she finally arrived, she took one last look before turning off her phone and entering the building. She went to the reception desk. “Hi! Uhh, I was told to come here for a visitor’s badge?” she said, trying to sound sweet, but also a bit flustered.

“Sure  hon,” the older woman at the desk said. “Name of the person you’re visiting?”

“Dr. Spencer Reid?” she said, consulting a notebook she had been clutching. “I’m interviewing him.”

“And your name?” the woman asked, not even looking up.

“Lydia Collins,” she said, pulling  out the fake ID she has held onto for years and passing it to the woman.

The woman simply scanned the code (which totally brought up a fake profile), and handed it back. Then the printer spat out a badge that the woman tucked into a lanyard. “There you are hon. Take the elevator to the 6th floor and the BAU will be directly across from the elevator. Your badge is good for the next 4 hours. Please return it to the desk when you’re done.”

“Thanks!” Darcy chirped. “This was so much easier than I thought it would be.”

“Have a good interview dear,” the woman said, giving Darcy a brief smile.

Darcy rode the elevator and it was just like she was told. Though, the department looked kind of big. How was she ever going to find him? The less people that knew she was looking for him, the better because that was less people looking into who she really was and how she ended up with an appointment in the system.

It turned out finding him was not hard at all. He was standing right there when she walked in. The problem was that he was surrounded by people. And, (and this was the harder part), he was way cuter than any of the pictures online would have made her believe. She reminded herself this was all in the name of education, and walked up to the group.

“Excuse me? I’m looking for Dr. Reid?”

The entire group turned to stare at her. “And you are?”

“Lydia Collins? I, err, had an appointment?”

“You’re not Lydia Collins,” Spencer said, looking her over. “You’re Darcy Lewis.”

Darcy made a squeaking sound and started to consider her options. She decided to go on the offensive. “How do you know that name?” she demanded.

“I did a special assignment with Shield discussing the parameters to best keep you and Dr. Foster safe,” he said with a shrug.

“So why the fake name?” a muscular black man asked her.

“Did you not just hear him say I need to be kept safe?” she turned back to Spencer. “That’s surprising, and creepy, but not the point.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “So why  _ are _ you here?”

“You have the library’s only copy of  _ Marquis de Sade _ in the original French and it’s overdue.”

A blonde woman gave her a confused look. “Do you work for the library?”

“No,” she said letting out an exasperated sigh. “I need it more than he does.”

“Oh really?” he asked, examining her more closely now. She felt the heat rising up her neck.

“Yes really. I have a 7,000 word essay due on it on Monday, and I’ve been waiting 3 weeks for you to return it!”

“It’s like $20. Why didn’t you buy a copy?”

“Because working for Jane means I can pay for classes and literally nothing else. Do you have any idea how much money an intern makes? Let me inform you: none. I don’t have $20 for a book that I should be able to get for free at the library. So where is it?!”

Suddenly it was Spencer who was turning red. “I, uh don’t have it.”

“What? Here? I’m willing to wait for you to go home and get it!”

“At all,” he admitted. “I lost it.”

Darcy was positive she could hear her world shatter. She leaned heavily onto a nearby desk. “You’re joking, right? You’re just a mean person that doesn’t understand this is not a joking matter and is, in fact, 40% of my grade.”

“I wish I was,” he said gently.

“Hey,” the blonde said, “don’t you remember literally everything you read?”

“Yes?”

“So can’t you just, like, recite the book for her?”

She looked at him with hopeful eyes. “I,err, could,” he hedged.

“Perfect,” the black man said, slapping him on the shoulder. We’ll tell Hotch you’re taking the rest of the week off. Good luck on your paper Darcy.”

Darcy stared at him, dazzled. “Really?”

“I guess so,” he said, grabbing his bag. “Shall we?”


	14. Umbrella

She knew that there wasn’t a choice, that today she would be married. She looked outside at the grey skies and sighed. “It’s good luck,” Jane had promised her, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes, and Darcy knew that Jane was just trying to cheer her up.

She actually quite liked that it was raining. If felt appropriate, like the weather was protesting along with her. Her father had been so proud that he had brokered the arrangement, but she couldn’t see how she could love someone she had never met. She had wanted to marry for love, even if it was childish and unrealistic.But this marriage would save not only her family, but possibly the livelihood of the entire tiny village. Who was she to put her own happiness above so many others?

She sighed. She had gotten too maudlin. She grabbed her umbrella and headed down to the garden. Maybe a little fresh air would help pep her up. The rain had stopped, so she strolled the garden, breathing in the earthy smells and willing them to calm her. She had just come to the edge of the hedge maze when she heard a voice call out from the other side.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

“Aye,” she called.

“I seem to be, well, lost.” She laughed a little. “It’s not funny!” he called, indignant. “I have somewhere to be soon, and it will be a scandal if I’m late.”

“You happen to have found the perfect person to aid you, for I am a pro at this maze.” She started to walk along the edge. “Follow my voice as best you can, and I shall have you out of there in no time.”

“Then we will have to have a bit of conversation.”

“We shall only talk of inconsequential things,” she declared. “I don’t wish to know who I am saving until we are face to face.”

“Ahh,” he agreed. “I shall abide the lady’s request. If I don’t, she might abandon me!”

“I would never!” she said with mock outrage. “I have given you my word, and I intend to keep it.”

“So you’re a woman of your word?”

“To a fault,” she readily agreed.

“How could that be a fault?”  He sounded truly confused.

“It is a fault when I do things decidedly against my best interest because I said I would.”

“I can’t imagine such a case.”

“And I can’t explain because it would give too much away.” She was quiet for a beat. “But that will not do. You know know a fault of mine. I entreat you to divulge one of your own.”

“Well, apparently these hedges are a weakness,” he said wryly, “but I suppose you’d like something you didn’t already know. Occasionally I get lost in books to the point where I forget the world around me.”

“Just occasionally?”

“It’s all I’m willing to admit to.”

She laughed. “We’re nearly done, and just in time,” she said tilting her head to the sky. “I do believe the rain is about to start up again.”

“But surely we won’t make it back inside before it starts. We shall still be soaked.”

She scoffed. “I have an umbrella. We will be fine.”

“I’m not sure I should share an umbrella with a lady,” he said, a touch of regret in his voice. “Not today of all days.”

“Whyever not?” she asked as she turned the corner and came face to face with the man. They took a moment, examining each other in silence. Internally, she groaned. He was just the sort of man she could see herself falling for. He was lean and handsome, and she imagined they could converse for hours about books.

“Err,” he said, blushing mightily and looking away. “I should not share for I am to be married today.”

“I did not realize there was another wedding today,” she said, surprised.

“Another?” he asked.

“I am to be married today as well.”

He looked her over again and she felt the heat flush up her neck. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he finally said. "Sir Spencer Reid, at your service.”

The rain started to fall. She opened her umbrella and turned to him with a smile. “You are to stay dry this day,” Darcy said. “Pleased to meet you Sir Reid. I am Miss Lewis.”

He practically beamed at her as he offered his arm and stepped under the umbrella with her. Maybe this arranged marriage wouldn’t be as bad as she thought.


	15. Sweet

Darcy loved her little shop, Just What I Kneaded. She had poured her heart and soul into her business, and it was rewarding to see it prosper. After Shield fell, she successfully sued against the assets of what used to be Shield for breach of contract. She still had her pile of paperwork thanks to some sage advice from her friend Matt who had been in law school at the time. Because she still had the paperwork, she could point to the line where Shield had “indulged” her by signing a written amendment that said they would also keep her involvement with Thor a secret for her protection. After Shield had fallen, she had literally been snatched off the street two days later, held captive, and only survived because she busted her way out. Matt, now out of law school, had represented her. The lawyer who was sent to represent Shield apparently thought just as much of them as she did because he didn’t fight all that hard. She had been granted a tidy sum of money which, after paying Matt and taking him and Foggy out for drinks, she had completely invested into her bakery. 

She lived in the apartment above the shop, and everything was secured within an inch of its life. She had a state-of-the-art security system that Jane had “procured” for her. Darcy was pretty sure Jane had cried about the kidnapping and made Tony Stark unsure of what to do besides throw money at the problem, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She accepted gratefully, and enjoyed knowing that her home and business were safe.

“Morning Murdock,” she called to Matt from the back.

“How’d you know? I was being quiet and the chime didn’t go off.”

“I’m getting that looked into. I wish I could tell you I had crazy awesome senses or something, but it’s just the security camera system,” she said, putting a tray in the display case. “What can I get for my favorite lawyer today?”

“Foggy has been talking about your apple fritters all week, so half a dozen of those please.”

“And?” she prompted as she filled the box and the chime on the door rang. 

“And I need a lemon tart for Karen.”

“And?”

He smiled. “And just some coffee?”

“I know the fritters are for all of you. Are you sure you don’t want something just for you? Karen’s getting a tart.”

“Nope, that’s enough sweet for me.”

“Fair enough,” she said closing up the box and turning to grab his coffee. “You tell Foggy to tell me next time he butters someone up with my sweets. I’ll put my card in the bag.”

“Like you need more business,” Matt laughed as he took the bag she had put the box of treats in and coffee.

“Hush you. All that business is what lets me give you free food.”

“Which you don’t have to do. We would gladly pay.”

“I owe you.”

“You paid us, you know. Real money and everything.”

“Get out of here before I change my mind,” she laughed. Matt chuckled and turned to leave. “Hello sugar,” she said to the new customer. “How can I help you today?”

He flipped open credentials to show her. “I’m Dr. Reid with the FBI. Are you Darcy Lewis?”

“Show me that credential again,” she demanded. After her kidnapping she had spent a lot of time looking into everything that could help keep her safe, including fake credentials. He looked a little surprised at her request, but handed it over for her to inspect. After a thorough once over, she was satisfied and handed it back.

“I am Darcy Lewis,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“We have reason to believe that you are going to be the next target of a serial killer operating in this area. We’d like to take you into protective custody as a precaution.”

“No thank you,” Darcy said kindly. “I’m much safer here.”

“With all due respect, being alone isn’t safer than an with us.”

“Dr. Reid, I’m not going anywhere. This is my business. I own it. I am the only employee. I can’t just go into hiding for some undetermined amount of time. I have an amazing security system and a distrust for government agencies.”

“I would feel better if I knew you were safe.”

“You’re welcome to stay and keep me safe, Dr. Reid,” she said, looking him  up and down. “You look like you might have a sweet tooth, and I’m more than happy to have your company.”

“I’m sorry, but you just said you didn’t like government agencies?”

“Never said I didn’t like certain agents,” she said as she pulled a brownie from the case and handed it to him. “Eat that before you tell me no.” He took it from her, befuddled, but stepped over to a table and sat. She came over with some coffee and dropped a mug in front of him and sat across from him with a mug of her own. “If you need anything in your coffee, the fixin’s are over there,” she said with a nod of her head. He took a tentative bite of the brownie and couldn’t stop the small, happy whimper that escaped. She smiled. “So, interested in keeping me safe, Dr.?” 


End file.
